I’m reading Ogilvy on Advertising right now. If you don’t know him, David Ogilvy was one of, if not the top advertising executive(s) of all time.

His book is inspiring, and very reassuring in many ways, because it looks to me like he got cranky about many of the same things I do. I’m going to post some bits I find particularly interesting, but I highly recommend the book:

“What is a good advertisement? An advertisement which pleases you because of its style, an advertisement which sells the most? They are seldom the same… Creativity strikes me as a high-falutin word for the work I have to do between now and Tuesday.”

and

“If it doesn’t sell, it isn’t creative.”

In other words, it’s more important to create sales, than to win awards for creativity.

’nuff said.

Ogilvy on Advertising on Amazon.com

Follow-up Note: I should mention that I’ve read this book before, and return to it often for a renewal of purpose…